Obama tallies costs of new rules

Wednesday

Aug 31, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2011 at 11:09 AM

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his administration is considering seven new government regulations that would cost the economy billions of dollar a year, a tally that Republicans will pounce on to argue that Congress needs the power to approve costly government rules.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says his administration is considering seven new government regulations that would cost the economy billions of dollar a year, a tally that Republicans will pounce on to argue that Congress needs the power to approve costly government rules.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, Obama lists four proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules and three Transportation Department rules estimated to cost in excess of $1?billion. One of the proposed EPA rules — an update to the health-based standard for smog — is estimated to cost the economy between $19?billion and $90?billion.

The letter comes as the Republican-controlled House prepares to consider legislation that would require congressional approval for new regulations that would impose a significant cost on industries.

The four environmental regulations, which target air pollution and coal residue primarily from coal-fired power plants, already have been attacked by House Republicans, who have said they would kill jobs and harm the economy.

A federal court ordered the Obama administration to propose two of the four environmental rules.

Although the regulations would be expensive to comply with, EPA officials say they would save billions of dollars in avoided health-care costs each year by reducing asthma and other illnesses, such as cancer. In some cases, the cost savings are greater than the upfront expense, according to EPA figures.

Obama’s letter was in response to a request by Boehner last week for more details from the president on the proposed costs of the most-expensive regulations under consideration by his administration.

Obama’s administration has identified 219 proposed regulations this year with a cost to the economy of more than $100 million each.

Boehner, in a statement, said the administration should now release detailed cost estimates for all those proposed regulations.

“At a time like this, with our economy struggling to create jobs, it’s misguided for the federal government to be imposing so many new rules with such enormous costs, even when some of those rules may be well-intentioned,” he said.

Obama said a number of regulations being contemplated are in such preliminary stages of review that they have no reliable cost estimates.

The president said the seven proposals he did identify are not final and that his administration will “give careful consideration” to cost savings. He said his administration already has made changes that have saved more than $10 billion in regulatory costs over the next five years, and he said new regulations must meet cost-saving requirements that he ordered earlier this year.